Any person familiar with the learning and development industry has probably heard of an instructional designer and eLearning developer. Both are used interchangeably. But in fact, they have two distinctly different roles. It’s time to get the record straight and understand the key differences and similarities between the two professions.
Instructional Designer
The name really says it all. An instructional designer’s job is to design meaningful and effective learning experiences. They supply an outline, providing instructions on how to create courses that will meet the needs of their learners.
This will entail doing a front end analysis, researching content, examining proper pedagogies and learning theories, highlighting learning gaps, creating storyboards, working with SMEs, and more. You can think of an instructional designer as the architect who supplies blueprints for courses. Their job is heavily frontloaded and extremely important for those developing the courses later on.
eLearning Developer
If the instructional designers are the architects supplying the blueprints to the course, then the eLearning developers are the workers that construct the course itself. The eLearning developer will use an array of online tools and wear many different hats to make the instructional designer’s vision come to life. This could include, coding, visual design work, using LMS platforms, creating content with authoring tools, audio editing, etc. Anything that the eLearning developer can’t do themselves, they’ll outsource tasks to other third party vendors.
All of this is done under the guidance and direction of the instructional designer. eLearning developers work side-by-side with them typically on projects. It’s normal for them to help instructional designers with creating storyboards; placing the instructional designer’s ideas onto “paper” sort of speak. Sometimes they just do the entire storyboard themselves based on the research and content the instructional designer has provided them.
So, why the confusion?
The problem is that companies and the world of academia all require different skillsets when it comes to hiring instructional designers and eLearning developers. Depending on these needs, will likely change the job description for these roles. In many cases, the instructional designer is expected to do some eLearning development work and vice versa. That’s why these job positions are often interchanged when mentioned in the industry.
If you plan on a career change and are thinking about either of these jobs, it’s important that you know the distinct differences. Each job has its role to play in the development of courses. However, it’s best if you are familiar with both roles to make yourself more marketable. If you are attending school for instructional design, then you may want to take a certification course on eLearning or vice versa. The more you know, the better your chances are in landing that dream job you’ve always wanted.
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